After a very encouraging time in Birmingham, we arrived in Oxford to spend the weekend with Hannah's parents. Hannah's dad, Mike, is working on his PhD at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies. It was great to reverse roles with the parents and get to see where he studied and researched. It was easy to tell why he chose to do research at Oxford. The buildings, both on the inside and outside, were just amazing. Our eyes were constantly looking up at the decorations and architecture.
Mike and Steph were fabulous hosts! They showed us an amazing time in Oxford. We toured 3 different colleges - Christ Church College, New College, and Magdelen College. The colleges were spectacular. It is hard to describe how beautiful the buildings and land were around the schools. Oxford has 38 different colleges and each college has its own chapel, eating hall, dorms, and classrooms.
On Saturday afternoon, we decided to try out punting. For those of you who don't know, punting is an English activity that involves pushing a small wooden boat along with a very tall, metal pole. One person stands up in the back off the boat and pushes off the bottom of the canal and the boat hopefully glides along in the direction that you want it to go. Man, was that a stressful experience! Mike did an amazing job leading us around...and we eventually got the hang of it! But I think we probably hit every other boat, tree, wall, and animal on the water. We did succeed in our goal, however, which was to not flip the boat!
Another highlight of our time in Oxford was getting dinner at The Eagle and Child. This is the pub that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien hung out at every Tuesday morning for over 20 years and discussed the books they were writing such as The Narnia Series and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (no big deal).
However, everyone's favorite part of the weekend was definitely the amazing Harry Potter tour! We saw the hospital wing of Hogwarts, the room where Professor McGonagall teaches the students how to dance before the Yule Ball, the library for the first two movies, the top of the great stairs where McGonagall welcomes new students and the bottom of the stairs where Harry and Ron are caught arriving late, the hallways that appeared in the 4th movie, and the big tree that Malfoy was under when he got turned into a ferret. But the best part was seeing the Great Hall (pictured above) that was actually used in the first movie. A replica was rebuilt one and a half times larger for the following movies!
We had a great time in Oxford. It was great to see family and get some rest. Now, on to Paris!
P.S. - We must mention that Mike won hearts twice and he shot the moon to win the game with a grand slam! Good job, Mike!
Hi guys! Great update. You spared me some embarassment on the punting expedition. That was rough, but we made it and even enjoyed it toward the end, right? Oh and I'm walking tall because of those 'hearts' games ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe miss you guys and are so glad you included Oxford on your tour of Europe. Enjoying the updates!
We had a great time with you guys. Just for the record, punting is HARD, and some people just don't know HOW hard ;)) ... and the next time I get voted to start something, I'll rethink being so enthusiastic ! next time ya'll come, ( notice I think there could be a next time... there is still a LOT to see ) you all will get to try it...without expensive cameras!
ReplyDeleteLots of love ~ and keep us posted !